This is not a drama you watch, it’s a drama you experience. Fangs of Fortune is a signature Guo Jing Ming piece of art with stunning cinematography, excellent music and gorgeous shots. The sheer beauty of this show is breathtaking and it is pure pleasure for your eyes and ears.

This director captures the dark, sensual beauty in his actors in a way that’s unlike anything I have ever seen. He has the skill to get the best acting out of his cast and create enormous chemistry between them with the slightest of gestures.

✔ This is a slow burn story of six individuals coming together to make a family that would live and die for each other. It’s fully character driven and focuses heavily on the relationships between this lovable team of humans, gods and demons, even sometimes at the expense of the plot. However, soon the show finds its pace and its footing and midway, gains momentum to the point that every episode is impactful.

✔The martial arts and action scenes are truly some of the best I have ever seen. They are emotional, sexy, expressive and tell a story instead of being just mindless fighting. There are so many adrenalin filled moments in this show coupled with tender emotions and powerful dialogues, peppered with excellent comedy that is always layered with undertones of tragedy. It’s really a mixed bag of feelings and after a while, you get so immersed that you are hit with every single one.

Now, let’s talk about the soul of the drama. While there are many amazing characters, the two male leads absolutely steal the show and give it life.

✔Zhao Yuan Zhou is one of the most powerful demons in the world with a deadly reputation to match. Feared by all, hated by most and condemned by many - he is a lonely soul burdened under self-hatred, guilt and a will to die.

It is this pursuit of death that brings him to the door of Zhou YiChen, the righteous, morally upright commander of the demon hunter bureau. Zhou Yi Chen is a man with many scars on his heart, a dedication to do what he thinks is right and a deep sense of vengeance that burns within the childlike purity that consumes him.

✔Even though their relationship starts off as a blood feud with one pledging to kill the other, soon it flourishes into one of the best male friendship arcs I have seen in a C drama ever. The love, silent camaraderie, empathy, understanding, protectiveness and compassion that they come to share is beautiful to watch.

✔These two make a formidable team because they are both such interesting characters in their own right. Both are damaged, powerful, with hard edges but incredibly soft hearts and their bickering, bantering dynamic together is truly a treat to watch. I mean, they were literally self-confessed soulmates - what more can you ask for?

✔The character development for both of them is excellent as well. Soon, you uncover the mischievous, cat-like goodness of the great demon and realize what a butter heart he has. You understand the pain he carries, the blood that paints his unwilling hands and you can’t help but feel for him as he finally, slowly, yearns to live instead of seeking the death that he thinks he deserves.

✔Similarly, you watch as Zhuo Yichen slowly becomes the formidable, unbreakable, full of grace man he is destined to be. He becomes a roof that shelters all. A roof that protects from wind and rain. A roof, that is home.

Both, Neo Hou and Tian Jiu Rui fully sell their characters and give out a very magnetic, ethereal performance and there is a world of chemistry between them.

✔Other than these two, the rest of the team - consisting of the loyal, endearing, food-loving God Ying Lei, the badass and resolute archer, Pei Si Jing and tiny, lovable doctor Bai Ju - is also a powerhouse of emotions. Each has their own stories, their own reasonings, their own fears and insecurities and their own amazing story arcs. All of them can be shipped with all of them and the found family arc is truly at its finest in this drama.

❌Unfortunately, the weakest character of the show has to be its female lead, Wen Xiao. There is a bland quality to her that becomes more apparent because of how magnetic the rest of the cast is. Wen Xiao is an underdeveloped character whose main job is to wax out poetic and flowery dialogues and cry atleast 49473993 times per episode. When she isn’t doing that, she is being a personal therapist/cheerleader for one of the two male leads.

❌There’s nothing wrong with being physically weak and having subtle strength, nor is there anything wrong with being all heart but honestly, Wen Xiao feels like an after thought of a character that’s definitely used as a shield to get through censorship by GJM who has been frequently ostracized for BL undertones in his dramas.

❌So, Wen Xiao’s character feels purposefully diluted as a calculated creative choice by the writer. She’s not given any of the impactful scenes, her romance arc is little more than a subplot and she’s supposed to take a backseat to the bromance which is obviously more thoughtfully written. While all the other members of the squad have their own flavoring, back stories and growth, Wen Xiao is stuck in the box labeled as “pretty weak lady who can do no wrong” and is responsible solely for the visuals in the story. While all the characters have seen significant growth as the episodes go by, she is still exactly the same as she was in episode 1.

❌ As a result, she is the most uninteresting character to watch and her love story with the great demon fell flat for me. Good thing is, romance is really just a minor thing in this drama and never holds that much importance in the first place so it’s all okay.

✔As the episodes progress, the show becomes darker with many questions of morality thrown in your face. Most of them, pushed forward by its very enigmatic, very sharp, sympathetic villain Li Lun. Li Lun is an absolute menace - evil, messy, sneaky and manipulative as he is, he still has a lonely, childish, unloved heart inside and he’s a delight to watch on screen. He has to be one of my favorite charismatic villains ever. Li Lun is 100% THAT girl.

✔ Finally, I feel like the drama had a very fitting bittersweet ending. It was beautiful, part tragic, part hopeful and true to the atmosphere built in 34 episodes. While there were many tears that were shed, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Overall, this is a show to cherish slowly instead of a binge watch. It is a whole moment in time all in itself that offers complete sensory overload and that’s why, it is definitely Jeana recommended.

Enjoy!